This here's a jam for all the fellas

I remember this time last year, albeit vaguely, as being filled with tv watching. Not much has changed although the content appears to be a little more "meaty". Normally I'd be watching reruns of everybody loves raymond or american choppers, but this year there is so much more crap to laugh at that i just can't help but watching cnn, cpac, or fox news for hours at a time. So where to begin, how bout bird flu. How many are you are terrified of this "killer"? I don't mean to joke at the fact that it has potential to kill, but let's put this into perspective. The first fact is it doesn't jump from human to human very well at all. So if you fear being around people from thailand, or china for your susceptability to it, don't be. Second, Tamiflu and Relenza. These are the HOT drugs on the market that are supposed to help you if you get bird flu. The guys who make the stuff are probably smoking cigars lit with hundred dollar bills right now because of someone saying, "Hey, it's a flu medicine so it'll cure bird flu". Now of course you could say to me, "you're just a dumb chemistry student who doesn'tknow all the fact". Fair enough, how bout this guy who makes drugs for a living and understands how the stuff really works(ie. the pharmacokinetics of the drug). His comments can be found here. And finally, if any of you caught the little docudrama on canadian tv , you may be quite scared of this "looming pandemic". Dare I say this is as likely as that Giant volcano movie depiction of Yellowstone national park? OH, and another thing, the damn thing has already mutated several times, seems to like to change itself whenever it actually gets into a person so finding a cure or antiviral drug for it is even harder. So who are we really fighting here? The actual virus, or the media who have told us we're all going to die from it. If you want my opinion, which you probably don't, wake up tomorrow and have a coffee. Read the paper and have some toast, and if the doorbell rings and it's bird flu, then kick him square in the timbits. I'd say that's the likelyhood of this thing infecting you, and the oddds that you'd actually be able to stop it.

So what else have we done lately? I started a new chemistry lab this semester. I actually enjoy it because it isn't feel with retarded morons who make me feel unsafe. So far my experiments have gone well. I did the infamous SnAr reaction yesterday. Got wicked results too. I now have the product sitting in a tube in my coat should anyone ever want to see it. I don't think there will be many stories to tell from this one because it's six hours of nothing but chemistry. Not much time for breaks. Although there was a break yesterday, i think it was an analytical flask.(did anyone like my play on words there???). And to give you insight into what goes for humour around the lab, a guy was washing a beaker yesterday with some NaSO4 in it. It's a fine powder that bunches up kinda like slushy snow consistency. Someone was trying to wash their beaker out, with the same stuff in it, with acetone(organic solvent) and it wasn't working very well. So the guy pipes up and says, "that crap is polar. It separates into monovalent cations and sulphate anions you silly goose". Sad isn't it? The real fun comes when determining solvent systems for chromatography plates. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEE the fun never ends. All that with the joy of huffing ether, acetone, hexanes, and ethyl acetate fumes(none of which are good for you) gives me a big headache at the end of it. To give you an idea, ether was used to knock out, or create an almost hallucinagenic feeling during world war one during field surgery. Acetone, that nasty crap that dissolves nail polish(i spill about half a litre on my hands during the lab period). Hexanes, sorta similar to gasoline. And finally ethyl acetate, this one is ok, it smells fruity and is found as a taste/smell enhancer in foods and drinks. And there's this cute girl in my section, i may see what she is doing on valentine's day. I need some spice in my mundane life.

Late katz, back to the future is on and i need to interpret some spectroscopy printouts. keep on truckin. I may be back in the C dot for superbowl weekend. Only time will tell.

P-zizzout
Buckmaster Flex

PS. I'm gonna be stupid and try to make some NI3 someday soon. So wish me luck and pray that I don't lose an arm or something(no joking here).

here's a picture of what i strive for after six hours in a lab. Make sure you OOOH an AHHH!